wonderful Christmas Sacrament Meeting, the music was
beautiful and the talks, wonderful.
THOUGHT: “God
does He notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that
he meets our needs. Therefore, it is
vital that we serve each other.”
President
Spencer W. Kimball
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. Mark
your calendar for Thursday Jan. 10that 7 pm at the Church for a “Care-bbean
Cruise. Time to take 'care' of our
bodies and minds. You can wear
comfortable clothes.
2.
Sunday January 13thwe are re launching our RS web site. We need some information from You. We need your name and your prefer means of
contact:
Would you prefer us to call you and which phone number if
you have two?
Would you prefer to get emails? How often do you check your email, Several times a day.
Once a day or once a week.
Other: Which media do you use often and
comfortably.. If you don't get a chance
to look at clipboard, contact Amy W.
BIRTHDAYS: December
23rd– Donna R. and December 25th– Devri D. Happy Birthday to you.
A Huge thanks to Christy S for all the wonderful work
she did as our Compassionate Service person.
We will miss her, but Primary needs her.
A big thanks to Amy W for accepting the call to be
our new Compassionate Service person.
Merry Christmas to all of you.
We hope you will feel the Savior's love
for you. Christmas
is a time to reflect on his Atonement. - Megan
LaurieAnderson shared with us the wonderful Christmas present
she and her family received. They
learned that Terry, her husband, on his last bone marrow biopsy that there is
no sign of cancer. She thanks all of us
for our prayers.
Our lesson today was presented byDarla C. “Be Anxiously
Engaged”by Elder M. Russell Ballard.
Sisters, I have been cold for 2 days, so please excused me for
wearing my coat. We have all been very
busy. Have you been busy enough? I hope you can close your eyes as I play some
music for you. It may be the only rest
you'll get.
The first part of the lesson of Elder Ballard will probably
be remembered as the “1/12thteaspoon”.
It is about giving what we are able to give, yet contribute to the
kingdom.
“....my thoughts go back 60 years to when my father owned a small
peach orchard in Holladay, Utah. He kept
beehives there to pollinate the peach blossoms that would eventually grow into
very large, delicious peaches.
“Father loved his gentle honeybees and marveled at the way
thousands of them working together transformed the nectar gathered from his
peach blossoms into sweet, golden honey—one of nature's most beneficial
foods. In fact, nutritionists tell us it
is one of the foods that includes all the substances—enzymes, vitamins,
minerals, and water--necessary to sustain life.
“Honeybees are driven to pollinate, gather nectar, and condense the
nectar into honey. It is their
magnificent obsession imprinted into their genetic makeup by our Creator. It is estimated that to produce just one
pound of honey, the average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively
visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the
world. Over its short lifetime of just a
few weeks to four lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single
honeybee's contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth of one
teaspoon.
Let's look at #1 on our handout. What is your obsession? - How
do you spent your time What is your magnificent obsession? How would you like to spent your time?
What is the obsession imprinted on your DNA? How would Heavenly Father want you to spent
your time?
Laurie: My life has changed and my focus has changed
because of my husband's illness. I
realize more and more that I wanted to be there for him.
Hard things make us realize what the really important
thing is.
Amy S:Our nurturing is imprinted in our DNA. It's our divine nature.
Just like the honey bee's contribution of honey to it's hive
is a mere
1/12 of one teaspoon, we are also necessary and important
to the hive, the kingdom. And though seemingly insignificant when compared to
the total, each bee's o/12 of a teaspoon of honey is vital to the life of the
hive, the bees depend on each other.
Work that would be overwhelming for a few bees to do becomes lighter
because all of the bees faithfully do their part. Like the saying “Many hands make light work”
Imagine what the millions of Latter-Day Saints could accomplish
in the world if we functioned like a beehive in our focused, concentrated
commitment to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we work together, we can accomplish many
more things.
There is power in our love for God and for His children, and
when that love is tangible manifest in millions of acts of Christian kindness,
it will sweeten and nourish the world with the life-sustaining nectar of faith,
hope and charity. (and healing)
We can see that in the situation in Connecticut. Elder Ballard: “We read of the service Church members
provide around the world and especially the humanitarian service given in times
of crisis—fires and floods and hurricanes and tornadoes. These much-needed and much-appreciated
emergency responses should certainly continue as a way of bearing one another's
burdens. But what about our everyday
lives? What would be the cumulative
effect of millions of small, compassionate acts performed daily by us because
of our heartfelt Christian love for others?
Over time this would have a transformative effect upon all of our
Heavenly Father's children through the extension of His love to them through
us. Our troubled world needs this love of Christ today more than ever, and it
will need it even more in the years ahead.
They know what is coming.
You know this gentleman who wanted to know what he could do as a result
of this tragedy and he came up with the 26 acts of random kindness, one for
every person whose life was lost.
It has gone viral.
Throughout the world people are doing acts of kindness.
Amy R: It's beautiful how something so tragic can turn into
good, into something positive.
We are on four A: How
do we take the seed of faith that has been nurtured in our minds and plant it
deep in the fertile soil of our souls?
How do we make the mighty change of heart that Alma says is essential
for our eternal happiness and peace?
Elder Ballard: What do
we need to do to become like the dedicated honeybees and have that dedication
become part of our nature? Many of us
are dutiful in attending our Church meetings.
We work hared in our callings and especially on Sundays. That is surely to be commended. But are our minds and our hearts just as
anxiously engaged in good things during the rest of the week? Do we just go through the motions, or are we
truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ?
“Remember honey contains all of the substances necessary to sustain
mortal life. And the doctrine and gospel
of Christ is the only way to obtain eternal. Life. Only when our testimony transcends what is in
our mind and burrows deep into our heart will our motivation to love and to
serve become like unto the Savior's. It
is then, and only then, that we become deeply converted disciples of Christ
empowered by the Spirit to reach the hearts of our fellowmen.”
We are building up to how we do it. How do we make it work.
Elder Ballard: “When our
hearts are no longer set upon the things of this world, we will no longer
aspire to the honors of men or seek only to gratify our pride. Rather, we take on the Christlike qualities
that Jesus taught:
* We are
gentle and meek and long suffering
* We are
kind, without hypocrisy or guile
* We
feel charity toward all men
* Our
thoughts are always virtuous
* We no
longer desire to do evil
* The
Holy Ghost is our constant companion, and the doctrines of the priesthood
distill upon our souls as the dews from heaven.
Luone :Charity to all men.
When Brother Packer (father of one of the little girls killed) was
talking about how their family is dealing with it, it made a difference. Most of the time when things happen to
people, we think of it as news report 'somebody did something to someone. We don't really connect to them as a
person. But he had compassion for this
man who did this thing because he was in a very dark place. We need to feel charity, we don't know what
road he was traveling. All of us are fighting
a hard battle. Having know someone in my
family who did bad thing, I understand how hard it is for the family. We feel for his family, going through hard
time.
I'm grateful his mother was taken first. She didn't have to deal with the accusation of
being a bad mom. Think about
people. Need to have compassion. Did he want this illness? I'm grateful that a parent of one of the
children understood this.
Lynette: I heard about this analogy of honey at a
diabetic class. The minute honey touches
your lips, it starts to observe in your body.
If we do good, if we are engage in good works, it is easier to want to
do good.
Megan: We need to focus on the Atonement. The Temple is about the Atonement. It teaches us to be better, kinder, have hope
and faith.
Be focus, do not be anxious as we engage in good
works. Have hope.
Yes, ponder it's all about the Atonement.
Francesca:A friend sent me a message, a video of how the
atonement connects to Missionary work.
The nurturing part of me just made me be grateful for the Savior. Christ was the ultimate and perfect
missionary, made the ultimate sacrifice.
Christ will give us strength.
Amy W: Someone quoted Mr. Rogers; “Look for the helpers. There are always helpers.” We lose the opportunity for ourselves as LDS
people when we are around non-LDS and
not help in those situations.
We need to show interest in them as though they were like
us. They need to know that we love them
and will help them as much as we will help our own people.
Got it exactly right.
To be in a world where someone doesn't know about our religion. Can have that thought. As LDS we make connection with other LDS
people, with others who don't have nothing in common.
How do we make this change?
5b: In your morning prayer each new day, ask Heavenly
Father to guide you, and you will be able to discern those in need of a
particular service that only you may be able to give. You will be prompted by the Spirit ;and
magnificently motivated to help pollinate the world with the pure love of
Christ and His gospel.
I am praying that I will be able to do this. I testify that even when I think I didn't have
the time, nor strength to help someone, I was able to assist a gal who needed
to be listened to. He sustain me as I
needed to sustain her. Whatever the
prompting, go with it.
Years ago, I had a person call me when I was really hurting, in
a fetal position. She felt she needed to
call me, asked me how I was and of course I said I was fine. We talked long enough to be able to discuss
what my situation was. After our
conversation I was able to get up and function.
I pray we all listen to the spirit to assist others. Their lives and ours will be changed.
Have a Merry Christmas.
We love you.
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